i have a 38 rival sailboat with solid glass side decks. on top of the
deck was teak which i have removed and im almost finished fairing.i
plan on using interlux brightside witn intergrip added for non skid
properties. with the deck being solid glass there is some flexing when
i walk on the deck. does anybody think i will have problems with the
paint cracking or falling off? under the deck the hull to deck joint is
glassed together with about 6 inches of overlap then a small stringer
running from stern to bow,then there is about 6 or 7 inches of solid
glass until you reach another stringer at the edge before the radius to
form the coach sides then roof. the flexing is mostly in the 6 or 7
inches between the hull to deck joint and the radius. im sure teak had
no structural purpose only non skid and looks. if anybody has any
advice or comments it would be greatly appreciated. shpuld i ad more
glass under the deck? and more stringers running from the deck joint to
the inner edge? or perhaps core the entire area between all the
bulkheads? or just leave it be and hope the paint does nt crack or peel
off.

dave wrote:
with the deck being solid glass there is some flexing when
i walk on the deck. does anybody think i will have problems with the
paint cracking or falling off?

snip

Don't know about the paint but flexing decks are a problem IMHO.

Lew

Lew Hodgett wrote:
dave wrote:
with the deck being solid glass there is some flexing when
i walk on the deck. does anybody think i will have problems with the
paint cracking or falling off?

snip

Don't know about the paint but flexing decks are a problem IMHO.

Lew what is imho? the flexing is only between bulkheads whem you walk on it it feels soft. these boats were designed and built for ocean sailing so i imagin they knew what they were doing. do you think i should reinforce it somehow? any ideas

Lew Hodgett wrote:
dave wrote:
with the deck being solid glass there is some flexing when
i walk on the deck. does anybody think i will have problems with the
paint cracking or falling off?

snip

Don't know about the paint but flexing decks are a problem IMHO.

Lew

dave wrote:

Lew what is imho? the flexing is only between bulkheads

whem you walk on it it feels soft. these boats were designed and built

for ocean sailing so i imagin they knew what they were doing.

do you think i should reinforce it somehow? any ideas


In My Humble Opinion.

You raise more questions than I can answer at this time.

1) Are the decks cored or solid?

If cored, is the core mushy?

If the decks are solid, do you have an interior head liner covering the
deck glass or is the deck glass directly available from inside the boat?


Questions, questions, questions.

Lew

"dave" wrote in message
oups.com...
i have a 38 rival sailboat with solid glass side decks. on top of the
.. im sure teak had no structural purpose only non skid and looks.

On what basis are you sure the teak had no structural purpose?
Teak is a VERY strong and stable timber

Lew Hodgett wrote:
dave wrote:

Lew what is imho? the flexing is only between bulkheads

whem you walk on it it feels soft. these boats were designed and built

for ocean sailing so i imagin they knew what they were doing.

do you think i should reinforce it somehow? any ideas


In My Humble Opinion.

You raise more questions than I can answer at this time.

1) Are the decks cored or solid?

If cored, is the core mushy?

If the decks are solid, do you have an interior head liner covering the
deck glass or is the deck glass directly available from inside the boat?


Questions, questions, questions.

Lew the decks are solid glass and the headliner panel has been removed so i could remove the deck hardware

the teak was only 3/16 of an inch. if it was meant to be structural
wouldnt it need to be thicker. and it was advertised by the builderas
an add on for a traditional look, saying nothing about strength.

dave wrote:

Lew

the decks are solid glass and the headliner panel has been removed
so i could remove the deck hardware

The easiest way to stiffen the side decks based on your description
would be to loose fit a piece of foam, say 3/4" Divinycell, to the
underside of the deck, then remove it and glass all exposed foam
surfaces with a couple of layers of 10 oz cloth.

After it cures, install it using some 5200 adhesive.

Allow the 5200 to cure at least a week, then remount all the deck
hardware you had to remove to fit the foam in the first place.

The 5200 will not be as strong as if the foam was glassed directly to
the bottom of the side deck; however, it should be strong enough and it
eliminates trying to lay glass overhead.

Lew

Lew Hodgett wrote:
dave wrote:

Lew

the decks are solid glass and the headliner panel has been removed
so i could remove the deck hardware

The easiest way to stiffen the side decks based on your description
would be to loose fit a piece of foam, say 3/4" Divinycell, to the
underside of the deck, then remove it and glass all exposed foam
surfaces with a couple of layers of 10 oz cloth.

After it cures, install it using some 5200 adhesive.

Allow the 5200 to cure at least a week, then remount all the deck
hardware you had to remove to fit the foam in the first place.

The 5200 will not be as strong as if the foam was glassed directly to
the bottom of the side deck; however, it should be strong enough and it
eliminates trying to lay glass overhead.

Lew that sounds like a good idea. should i glass both sides of the foam? i think i might use my left over west system epoxy thickend with 404 high density filler. im not sure ill have to measure but 3/4 will probably be to thick because of the amount of space between the headliner and deck plus i have to fit bolts in the area. the only deck hardware is a genoa track which i might move closer to the hull to deck joint overlap which is 7-8 inches in that area, all other hardware was placed in the overlap area where the deck seems very strong. i might have to go with 3/8 divivycell. do you think the heat from the epoxy kikking off might damage the primer or paint? thanks for all your help. i might be abel to get some kladgucel localy is this the same type product.